Happy New Year!

January 1, 2011 - It's always great when you can look back on the past year and figure out how to move forward for the new year. I am thankful that I was able to experience all the things that 2010 had to offer and use those experiences to become a better person. I went through a program called Leadership Columbia which I am so glad I was one of the 30 people picked to be in this program. This was through the Chamber of Commerce and started on January 5, 2010 and we graduated in June. As a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador I reached 606 points (which I am working very hard to get my 1,000 points) in 4 years or less. Our partnership with Midway Heights Elementary School is going great and we just finished up 2010 with a Winter Card Contest. My sister is pregnant with her first child (first grandchild on both sides of their families) and doing good. Brandon and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on September 13th. We took a couple of vacations this past year.... Mexico and Colorado which was a lot of fun. It's always nice to get away from day to day things (special thanks to our employees).
My New Years resoluations are as follows:
1. Smile/laugh everyday.... the world needs more laugher!
2. Be patient.... I have trouble with this but trying to work on it!
3. Be thankful/grateful.... I often take things for granted and need to be thankful/grateful more.
4. Compliment others..... I need to do this more often. A nice compliment can brighten someone's day!
5. Have fun.... well I might have this one mastered so I will carry it into 2011!
6. Do random acts of kindness .... Although I do this I need to do it more.
7. Forgive and forget.... As we get older you must forgive and forget
8. Get rid of the drama.... If someone's got drama that can't be fixed in a few hours or even a day walk away!
9. Call my momma often.... We all know what happened when I didn't .... don't make that mistake again!
10. Enjoy Life.... Stop and smell the flowers more....

Well these are just a few to get me started..... Hope you all have a wonderful start to 2011!

It's Christmas!

December 25, 2010 I didn't take any pictures on Christmas! I know, you all can't believe it but I just forgot! I got up Christmas morning and baked a Cherry Pie for Lonnie & Francie and then cut fabric for the rag blankets I am making. Brandon finally got up at 1:00 pm and watched TV..... lazy bones! It was nice to just have nothing to do for a Saturday morning! We went over to Lonnie & Francie's house (Brandon's dad and step mom) and had an excellent meal with them and visited for awhile. I really enjoy being with them.... they are so fun! When then stopped by Marty & Stan's house (Brandon's mom and her boyfriend) and helped her fix Christmas dinner. She is having a total knee replacement Thursday and can't get around very well so I warmed everything up so she could sit down and relax. We had a good time and ready to tackle the New Year!

A white Christmas!

December 24, 2010 I am so glad it snowed! I don't like the cold very well but I do love the snow! Everything is so pretty and each branch on the trees is outlined and it's simply beautiful! We were open at work today but with the snow we couldn't get the vans out because if we wrecked them we couldn't replace them or fix them in a days wage so it was a quite day around the shop! I did bake 2 Cherry Pies, 2 Chocolate Pies and 2 Pumpkin Pies for family. I also made a batch of homemade old fashioned fudge for Uncle Terry.... it turned out perfect! We had Christmas dinner with the Spry family (a tradition we did with Grandma Ruby where everyone went to her house on Christmas Eve) and went to Uncle Terry & Aunt Debbie's house. We didn't get there until 4:00 pm but we still had a good time. Many good laughs and we even made snow ice-cream! Yum!

Our entrance to Midway Electric, Inc.

Well I got another hair-brained idea to re-pot my plants that are in the front entrance. I have a pony-tail palm plant (center) that I love! It was outgrowing it's original planter and needed room to grow so I stopped by Westlake's and found a couple of really nice pots. I also had 3 benches that my dad made and wanted to do something fun with them and this is what I came up with.... it's totally me.... different and country! The big plant on the left was a gift from one of our parts houses when Grandma Ruby died and it was only half as big (it's been a year and 3 months) so we got a big ol' pot for it too. I have a few more plants to re-pot and need to get some more potting soil to finish but it's a work in progress. (no worries....my OCD won't let me walk away until this project is finished) These are just some of my random acts of craftiness!

Kinly's 1st Birthday!

December 22, 2010 marked the 1st birthday for Kinly. It's hard to believe that a year ago we were waiting patiently for her to arrive and yesterday was her birthday! Where does time go? She recently started walking and it's so cute to watch her go after something she wants much faster now. She was a little cranky for her birthday party. It was last night around 6:00 pm and there were lots of people there.... really messes with a baby girls schedule during the week. Overall she did really good and got lots of cute gifts. It's so fun to see how much she is changing over this past year. She's got so much personality!

Bailey Girl

Bailey is our beagle/Heinz 57 mix dog that we got as a puppy. One of mom and dads friends, Keith House, was working in Fulton, MO and this little puppy was on the side of the road. He was afraid she would get hit so he placed her in someone's fenced in yard. She whined for him to come back and he couldn't take it so he took her home with him. I happened to be at their house and I told him I would take her. That's been 9 years ago and she is the best dog ever! We taught her to go get the newspaper at the end of our driveway and she just couldn't wait for Brandon to let her out to go get it. She was so small and the newspaper was so big but she was so happy. She loves to be around us and Brandon takes her for a quick ride in the truck each morning. She looks forward to the mornings for sure! I have taught her to "smile" when we get home and it's so cute because she will show her teeth and wag her whole butt in excitement.

She also loves to play ball. We have taught her how to "toss" the ball to us. She is so cute and can't wait for us to get home and play. She is such a good dog and I can't imagine not having her! She loves to mess with Max and Mattie but as they are getting older they can't keep up with her...... She watches over them and I ask her to go get Max (aka: bubby) or Mattie (aka: sissy) and she will go find them and make them come into whatever room we are in. She's like the momma.  :) 

My niece Olivia!

This is my beautiful niece, Olivia McKee! She had a recital last night at Gentry Middle School and plays the clarinet. Aunt Shell wasn't able to be in two places at once and when I showed up she was done. I felt horrible but I was able to see her! Her mother, Misty and I have been best friends since 1992. I love the McKee family as they all treat me like family! Aunt Shell loves you Olivia Paige! :)